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# Aliplast opens new rigid plastics recycling plant in Italy
- URL: https://www.packagingeurope.com/aliplast-opens-new-rigid-plastics-recycling-plant-in-italy/
- Published: 2026-10-21T13:03:34.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-21T13:03:34.000Z
- Author: Packaging Europe staff writers
- Tags: Rigid Packaging, Business, Regulation & Compliance, News

[**Aliplast**](https://www.aliplastspa.com/en?ref=packagingeurope.com)**, part of** [**Hera Group**](https://eng.gruppohera.it/group%5Feng/?ref=packagingeurope.com)**, has officially opened its R3GID (Recover Recycle Regenerate Plastic) recycling plant in Modena, Italy, capable of processing up to 30,000 tonnes of high-quality recycled polymers annually.**

Designed to meet growing demand for recycled plastics under new EU regulations such as the PPWR and End of Life Vehicles (ELV) regulation, the facility’s recycled polymers are said to have properties comparable to virgin materials derived from fossil feedstocks and a certified purity level of over 99%.

Hera Group’s investment totals €48.8 million including €7.7 million in direct funding from Italy’s [National Recovery and Resilience Plan](https://www.italiadomani.gov.it/content/sogei-ng/it/en/home.html?ref=packagingeurope.com) (NRRP), aiming to provide a facility that can recycle rigid plastic waste from municipal and industrial sources. This includes sectors such as cosmetics, home and personal care and furniture.

At the Modena plant, Aliplast says it will regenerate plastic waste into ‘high-quality, traceable and certified’ polymers produced in Italy. These can be reused by the same industries to manufacture products such as plastic components for televisions, computers, household appliances and make-up containers.

Aliplast collaborated with [Nextchem](https://www.nextchem.com/en/?ref=packagingeurope.com) to develop the technology for the plant, using the company’s proprietary NX Replast solution for plastics upcycling. The plant’s equipment and technologies also enable the development of tailor-made materials to meet specific functional, mechanical, aesthetic and regulatory requirements.

At Hera Group’s industrial hub in Modena, existing facilities have enabled a circular system with the new R3GID plant: treated water supplies the rigid plastics recycling process before returning to the wastewater treatment plant, while electricity generated by the waste-to-energy plant powers the new business activities. According to the Group, this reduces energy costs and avoids approximately 30,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent emissions compared with production from virgin plastics, on a like-for-like production cycle basis.

Orazio Iacono, chief executive officer of Hera Group, said: “Europe currently has plastics recycling capacity of 13.5 million tonnes, but only 3.5 million tonnes for rigid plastics, including approximately 440,000 tonnes. By 2040, an additional 5.7 million tonnes of recycled rigid plastics will be needed. R3GID is our response as a first mover. It provides Italian manufacturers with high-quality, locally produced materials, reducing import costs and ensuring security of supply. Italy pays the European Union around €800 million each year in Plastic Tax on non-recycled plastic packaging, while the Modena plant alone could generate savings of approximately €24 million if its entire output were used for packaging.”

Last month [RCS Group](https://www.rcs-entsorgung.de/?ref=packagingeurope.com) announced the [start of construction](https://www.packagingeurope.com/rcs-group-begins-construction-on-plastics-recycling-centre/) on a new RCS Plastics site in Werne, Germany, set to expand the company’s plastics recycling facilities and create the conditions for additional closed-loop material cycles. HDPE cap closures, PS, PET trays, and beverage bottles are expected to be processed into high-quality recyclates for a variety of applications.

More recently, [Borouge International](https://www.borougeinternational.com/?ref=packagingeurope.com) has [invested](https://www.packagingeurope.com/investments-to-boost-borouges-mechanical-recycling-capacity-for-plastics/) in mechanical recycling capacity at multiple plastic recycling facilities, aiming to boost its annual output by 14 kilotonnes and help customers meet recycled content requirements. Meanwhile, its facility in Wildon, Austria (formerly Ecoplast) is expected to increase its annual recycled polyethylene output by up to 5 kilotonnes in Q4 2027.

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